BLAZING NEW TRAILS
Beyond the Lab
Expanding Access to Assistive Technology in Texas
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
NCSAB Fall 2026 • Tim Shaw • Texas Workforce Commission VR
Innovation • Access • Partnerships • Scale
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Why change the traditional model?
Geography
Workforce
Technology
Consistency
Texas responded by moving from a location-centered model to an access-centered model.
PARTNERSHIPS
MOBILITY
SCALABILITY
READINESS
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Four trails Texas is blazing
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ATIP-TX
Build the instructor pipeline
2
SWAT
Take evaluations statewide
3
Typio
Scale keyboarding instruction
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Smart Glasses
Assess readiness before purchase
The innovation is not the technology alone, it is the service-delivery around it.
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Trail 1 — ATIP-TX
Building a sustainable pipeline of qualified assistive technology instructors.
The problem
A statewide system cannot effectively provide AT instruction when the supply of instructors remains limited.
The response
Partner with East Texas Lighthouse for the Blind to develop ATIP-TX and intentionally grow the instructor workforce.
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Recruit
2
Develop
3
Qualify
4
Deploy statewide
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ATIP-TX — What makes the partnership scalable?
Shared expectations
Pipeline thinking
Statewide capacity
Transferable idea: identify the service bottleneck first, then build the partnership around that bottleneck.
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Trail 2 — SWAT
Success with Assistive Technology: bring the evaluation team to the customer.
OLD MODEL
Customer travels to facilities
HYBRID MODEL
Customers travel to facility, or Assistive Technology Unit travels to the customers
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SWAT — A mobile service-delivery model
Designed to reduce travel burdens and expand comprehensive AT evaluation access.
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Identify
Communities and customers with unmet evaluation need.
2
Mobilize
Bring the AT evaluation team and equipment to the area.
3
Evaluate
Complete concentrated, comprehensive evaluations on site.
4
Connect
Return actionable recommendations to the VR process.
Program-management payoff: improve access without waiting for permanent infrastructure in every community.
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Trail 3 — Statewide Typio
Use accessible online instruction to strengthen a foundational employment skill.
Why keyboarding?
Efficient keyboard use supports independence across education, training, employment, and assistive technology.
Accessible
Online curriculum designed for blind learners and usable with assistive technology.
Scalable
Vocational Rehabilitation Teachers can deliver a consistent service across the state.
Technology becomes infrastructure when it can be delivered consistently.
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Trail 4 — Smart Glasses Readiness Assessment
Move the decision upstream: assess foundational skills before evaluating and purchasing AI wearables.
“Can this device help?” is not the first question.
First ask: “Does the customer have the foundational skills to use it successfully?”
PHONE SKILLS
AI PROMPTING
AI FALACY
TROUBLESHOOTING
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Readiness before procurement
A structured pre-assessment helps separate a device problem from a foundational-skills problem.
Foundational Technology
Connection & Control
AI
interaction
Device
Evaluation
Goal: better-informed purchasing decisions, more successful adoption, and clearer training needs.
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What these four initiatives have in common
The transferable lesson is the design approach—not the Texas-specific program name.
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Start with the barrier
Define the access, capacity, skill, or readiness problem before choosing a solution.
2
Design for scale
Build a model that can work across geography, staff, and changing demand.
3
Use partnerships strategically
Partner where external capacity can strengthen, not fragment, the service system.
4
Protect consistency
Standardize expectations, assessments, and service quality as reach expands.
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A framework you can take home
Use these questions to identify your agency’s next scalable innovation.
ACCESS
Where does geography or process create unnecessary barriers?
CAPACITY
Which service has more demand than qualified people to deliver it?
FOUNDATIONS
What customer skill can be strengthened before expensive intervention?
READINESS
What should be assessed before emerging technology is purchased?
Pick one bottleneck. Build one scalable response.
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.
THE TRAIL FORWARD
Innovation should make�services easier to reach.
Not innovation for its own sake, innovation that expands access, strengthens quality, and keeps customer success at the center.
Tim Shaw
Manager, Evaluation and Support Services�Texas Workforce Commission • Vocational Rehabilitation • Office of Blind Services
(737)222-3997
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